Music keys. Review

In addition to the article “Key” we will give a more complete list of existing keys. Recall that the key indicates the place of a certain note on the stave. It is from this note that all other notes are counted.

Key groups

Despite the abundance of possible keys, they can all be divided into 3 groups:

1. Keys indicating the location of the note “Sol” of the first octave. The group includes Treble Clef and Old French. The keys of this group look like this:
   
2. Keys indicating the location of the note “F” of the small octave. These are the Bass clef, Basoprofund and Baritone clefs. They are all labeled like this:
   
3. Keys indicating the location of the note “Do” of the first octave. This is the largest group, which includes: Soprano (aka Treble) clef, Mezzo-soprano, Alto and Baritone clefs (this is not a mistake – the Baritone clef can be designated not only by the key of the “F” group, but also by the key of the “C” group – explanation at the end of the article). The keys of this group are designated as follows:
   

There are also “neutral” keys. These are keys for drum parts, as well as for guitar parts (the so-called tablature – see the article “Tablature”).

So the keys are:

Keys “Salt”PictureExplanationTreble clefIndicates the note “Sol” of the first octave, its line is highlighted with color.Old French keyIndicates the location of the “G” note of the first octave.

Keys “Before”PictureExplanationSoprano or Treble ClefThe same clef has two names: Soprano and Treble. Places the note “C” of the first octave on the bottom line of the stave.Mezzo-Soprano ClefThis clef places the C note of the first octave one line higher than the Soprano clef.Alto KeyIndicates the note “Do” of the first octave.tenor clefAgain indicates the location of the note “Do” of the first octave.baritone clefPositions the note “Do” of the first octave on the top line. See further in the keys of “F” Baritone clef.

Keys “F”PictureExplanationbaritone clefIt places the note “F” of a small octave on the middle line of the stave.Bass clefIndicates the note “F” of the small octave.Basoprofund keyIndicates the location of the note “F” of the small octave.

More about Baritone Clef

The different designation of the Baritone clef does not change the location of the notes on the stave: the Baritone clef of the “F” group indicates the note “F” of the small octave (it is located on the middle line of the stave), and the Baritone clef of the “C” group indicates the note “C” of the first octave ( it is on the top line of the staff). Those. with both keys, the arrangement of notes remains unchanged. In the figure below we show the scale from the note “Do” of the small octave to the note “Do” of the first octave in both keys. The designation of notes on the diagram corresponds to the accepted letter designation of notes, i.e. “F” of the small octave is indicated as “f”, and “Do” of the first octave is indicated as “c ¹ “:

Figure 1. Baritone clef of the “F” group and the “Do” group

To consolidate the material, we suggest you play: the program will show the key, and you will determine its name.

The program is available in the section ” Test: musical keys “

In this article, we have shown which keys exist. If you want to know a detailed description of the purpose of the keys and how to use them, refer to the article “Keys”.